Staff photo by Fritz Busch Dr. Ken Windschitl of Courtland stands in front of his shop that was destroyed by fire Saturday night. Courtland and Nicollet Fire Departments responded to the blaze with four fire trucks.

COURTLAND — Monday was a busy day for retired dentist Dr. “Doc” Ken Windschitl of Courtland.

Contractors, a Minnesota State Fire Marshall representative and an insurance man parked in his driveway after a Saturday evening fire destroyed a shop near his home on Shady Oak Drive.

Windschitl talked about what it felt like to see his shop burning down and how people reacted to him after the fire reported around suppertime.

“I wanted to cry but I couldn’t. Person after person, some of them total strangers, walked up to me, hugged me and asked me how they could help. We had to get out of the house Saturday night because our electricity was turned off. There were about a dozen houses I could have showed and slept in. The community is unbelievable, overwhelming,,” he said, his voice choked with emotion.

Windschitl said he called Paul’s Electric Sunday morning at 8 a.m. and left a voice message. He got a phone call 10 minutes later. Within an hour, a man drove to his home.

“Every person I called responded right away. Electricians, construction contractors. New Ulm Telecom. They’re all here. It’s the beauty of a small community. It stands together,” he said.

Windschitl said the Courtland and Nicollet Fire Departments responded quickly to the fire.

Courtland Fire Chief Dave Ubl said the fire department responded to the fire at 5:52 p.m. Saturday.

“Hydrant access was too far away, so we called the Nicollet Fire Department and we hooked up to them for water. We had four trucks, two engines and two tankers plus a Mankato Fire Department air truck to refill our air bottles,” said Ubl.

He said it was a good thing it was raining Saturday evening.

“The shop was fully engulfed in flames when we got there. The rain helped us keep the fire from spreading to a wooded ravine and residences built along it,” said Ubl.

He said nobody was injured in the fire. The Nicollet County Sheriff’s Office and Allina Ambulance were at the scene on standby.

Courtland firefighters left the scene at 9:40 p.m.

The fire cause is undetermined at this time, pending an investigation by the State Fire Marshall.